Natus Vincere vs FaZe Clan: NAVI in the playoffs

Finally came to the end an awfully long break in the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. During this break, everyone missed the real Tier-1 of CS and soon all the fans of the shooter will plunge back into the highest level CS. The first tournament of the new season will be ESL Pro League Season 14, where 24 teams will compete for a $750,000 prize pool. The tournament brings together the best of the best, with teams divided into four groups of six teams, but only three of these six will make it through.

On August 31, Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan will play their final group stage game of ESL Pro League Season 14. Will Faze Clan be able to beat Born to Win for the first time since 2019, or will they lose again?

• HLTV ranking: #1
• Changes in the last three months: +2
• Win rate best map: Nuke – 100% for 8 maps
• Win rate worst map: Dust2 – 47% for 15 maps

Natus Vincere had some problems but still managed to reach the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 14. The team won 3 out of 4 possible matches, securing themselves a place in the playoffs. The upcoming match against FaZe Clan will determine which team will be first in the group, which is also quite important. Natus Vincere has a very good history with FaZe Clan. The last time Born to Win lost to the European team was in 2019, and since then they have won 7 matches in a row. The matches are almost always persistent and often with the maximum number of maps, but they invariably end with a victory for Natus Vincere.

As for today's match, Born to Win will undoubtedly pick Nuke again. The team has a 100% win rate on this map, 8 wins in a row, and has already won twice on Nuke in this tournament. At the same time, it is one of the worst win rate maps for FaZe Clan, and of the last 4 matches, the team has lost three on Nuke. This map seems quite a good option for Born to Win.

• HLTV ranking: #4
• Changes in the last three months: +35
• Win rate best map: Dust2 – 67% for 6 maps
• Win rate worst map: Overpass – 33% for 6 maps

FaZe Clan looks pretty good in the tournament. The team is now 2nd in the group and the victory in today's match will bring the victory in Group C. Should they lose, FaZe Clan will still have a chance to get further, but it’s obvious the team doesn’t consider this outcome. In the last match, FaZe Clan defeated BIG, who beat NaVi in the previous round. It was an especially high-quality match for olofmeister.

As for maps, FaZe Clan picked Mirage and Inferno in this tournament, but none of these maps looks reliable against NaVi, although Born to Win had a weak Inferno yesterday, it doesn’t seem like a good pick. Dust2 looks more interesting, especially considering the recent results of FaZe Clan on this map. In addition, NAVI themselves frankly gave up on this map giving preference to training on Mirage. And Mirage looks like a good option for the third decisive map if need be.

The teams have played each other 8 times, Natus Vincere winning 7 matches and FaZe Clan celebrating only 1 victory in the bo1.

Natus Vincere are doing great in the tournament. They may not have that amazing form of IEM Cologne 2021, and s1mple may have played one of the worst maps of the year yesterday finishing last in his team with ADR 53.3, but nevertheless with one round left till the end Born To Win ensured themselves a place in the playoffs, which is a good result. FaZe are doing even better than one could expect from them, but it won't be enough to break NAVI's losing streak. Especially considering the maps, with Natus Vincere playing their two best ones out of three.

Bookmakers offer odds of 1.97 for Natus Vincere to win with a Handicap (-7.5), which seems like a good option.